CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - TODAY'S MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS REGARDING THE DEADLY VIRUS FRIDAY 60320

All the latest highllights regarding the Coronavirus from major news channels for Friday 6 March 2020.

Nedbank said the staff member was part of a group of 10 people who had travelled to Italy. 
One of South Africa’s big four banks has placed several staff members in self-quarantine. This comes after one of the banks employees reported to the bank that he had been in contact with the KZN Midlands man who tested positive for the deadly coronavirus this week.

Nedbank said the staff member was part of a group of 10 people who had travelled to Italy.
via - IOL

Airports Company South Africa has outlined its increased measures to deal with possible cases of the coronavirus
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has outlined its increased measures to deal with possible cases of the coronavirus.

The company held a briefing ahead of a site visit to OR Tambo International Airport by Parliament's portfolio committee on health. The MPs were given a private tour of Acsa's security measures put in place to deal with the virus.
via - IOL

An Umhlanga woman who was arrested as she landed at King Shaka International Airport on Thursday afternoon told police officers she had contracted the coronavirus.
An Umhlanga woman who was arrested as she landed at King Shaka International Airport on Thursday afternoon was taken to hospital after she appeared to be ill.

National Department of Health spokesperson Popo Maja confirmed that the woman claimed she had coronavirus and then later said she was joking.
via - IOL

Health Minister calls for people to stop spreading fake news
Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has urged people to refrain from spreading fake news about the coronavirus outbreak in South Africa.

"South Africa has only one case and we are working to contain it. The stories going around that are creating panic, need to stop," Mkhize said on Thursday.
via - IOL


Chinese ambassador to SA Lin Songtian pushed back against suggestions his country should carry sole responsibility for the coronavirus.
Chinese ambassador to South Africa Lin Songtian on Friday pushed back against suggestions that his country should carry sole responsibility for COVID-19, saying while the globally-spreading disease was first reported in its Wuhan city, there was no evidence it had originated there.

Lin spoke to journalists a day after South Africa's health minister Zweli Mkhize announced that a 38-year-old man from KwaZulu-Natal had become South Africa's first confirmed case of COVID-19 after travelling to Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by the disease outside China.
via - IOL

18 people who travelled with SA's first coronavirus patient are in self-quarantine
MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, has confirmed that 18 people who travelled to Italy with the country's first confirmed coronavirus patient, have all been asked to self-quarantine.

She said this was because they were in close contact with the 38-year-old patient and for that reason, they are being closely monitored.
via - IOL

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that South Africa is ready and prepared to deal with any cases of the coronavirus.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared that South Africa is ready and prepared to deal with any cases of the coronavirus.

Ramaphosa on Thursday urged South Africans to remain calm shortly after the government announced the first confirmed Covid-19 case in the country.
via - IOL

"For those in Government, I have banned foreign travelling. I also appeal to Zimbabweans to minimise travelling outside the country."
As the coronavirus disease COVID-19 epidemic spreads across the world, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has banned civil servants from going abroad and urged other citizens to restrict their travelling especially outside Africa, state media reported.

“We will continue to urge our people to minimise the risk of exposure. For those in Government, I have banned foreign travelling. I also appeal to Zimbabweans to minimise travelling outside the country,” state-owned newspaper The Herald quoted Mnangagwa as saying.
via - IOL

SANDF members are not refusing to travel to coronavirus-hit Wuhan, says Mkhize
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has denied that members of the SANDF are refusing to man an aircraft travelling to China to repatriate 151 South Africans.

This follows a report in the Mail & Guardian on Friday that members of the defence force were refusing to travel to China because they fear for their lives. The aircraft was reportedly ready, but there were no people willing to man the aircraft.
via - IOL

The Association of Southern African Travel Agents has called on its members and the general public to remain calm following the announcement of the first case of Coronavirus in South Africa.
The Association of Southern African Travel Agents (ASATA) has called on its members and the general public to remain calm following the announcement of the first case of Coronavirus in South Africa.

Otto de Vries, CEO ASATA, said travellers should share only information that has been confirmed by an official source like the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), World Health Organization (WHO) or ASATA.
via - IOL

None of the South Africans to be repatriated from China are infected with coronavirus - ambassador
China's ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, has confirmed that none of those waiting to be repatriated are positive with coronavirus.

Lin told media in Pretoria on Friday that South Africans awaiting repatriation were part of China's quarantine programmes, and the group will be subjected to screenings before leaving China.
via - NEWS24

'This is not a drill': WHO urges world to take virus more seriously 
World health officials have warned that countries are not taking the coronavirus crisis seriously enough, as outbreaks surged across Europe and in the United States where medical workers sounded warnings over a "disturbing" lack of hospital preparedness.

Global markets tumbled again over concerns about the impact on the economy and as countries took more drastic steps to prevent contagion of a disease that has killed over 3 300 people and infected nearly 100 000 in some 85 nations
via - NEWS24

The gold price in rand has surged to a record high as coronavirus panic hits shares
Safe-haven assets are surging as investors rush to snap up long-term bonds and gold amid coronavirus panic that's tanking global stocks.
Gold hit $1,690 an ounce this week, a seven-year high.
In addition, yields on 10- and 30-year US Treasury bonds fell to record lows of 0.7% and 1.4%, respectively.
The rally in the market's safest assets looks poised to continue as coronavirus spreads further.
via - BUSINESSINSIDER